


R76 Drabble prompt- "I can hardly stand myself"

by UmbramMortis



Series: Dialogue Prompts [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 08:20:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10302140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbramMortis/pseuds/UmbramMortis
Summary: Part of a drabble prompt list found on Tumblr.Stay tuned for more!





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bonebo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonebo/gifts).



Gabriel crossed the threshold into Jack’s office, muscles still tense from the flight and the mission, twisting his gut into something resembling stone as he sat in the chair opposite Jack’s desk. He barely had enough time to process what went on, and Jack was already on his ass to know what happened- why he had stitches in his face and Jesse was being held in the infirmary.

 

“Wanna tell me what happened?” Jack said, sliding the dossier across the oak desk towards him, big bold [MISSION FAILED] in bright red ink at the corner of the file a testament to his incompetence. The photos were already there, cataloguing the damage, the casualties- Accounting wasting no time tallying up the cost of each of their lives, either.    
  
“Not a lot to tell, Jack,” Gabriel started, surprising himself at the hoarseness of his voice, too long spent shouting on the battlefield. “All of the information is in there, we were ambushed. Someone must have given up our location.” The admittance made his mouth sour, bile rising in his throat at the thought of being betrayed. He quelled the flare of anger that came after by digging through the pocket of  his BDU’s, fabric still caked in blood and grime and flaking onto the seat as he stretched to tug his carton of cigarettes free. 

 

Gabriel didn’t ask permission, and Jack didn’t forbid him- placing a cigarette lazily between bloodied lips and accepting the lighter and ashtray that Jack handed over wordlessly. He took a moment to admire the flame before taking a long drag, flicking the lighter closed and tossing it onto the desk. They both watched the smoke waft towards the ceiling in silence, Gabriel’s head tilted back, skin bathed in the warm glow of the lamp on Jack’s desk.  “You know, sometimes…” Gabe began, a rueful smile touching his features and he turned his gaze back to stare Jack in the eye. “I can hardly stand myself.”    
  
“Gabriel, I’m s--” Jack started before the bang of Gabe’s fist on the desk made him stop dead, swallowing his words and staring in stunned silence.    
  
“Don’t. Don’t you dare, Morrison.” Gabe growled, clutching the cigarette between his teeth and taking another too-long drag before stubbing it out in the ashtray. His fingers were gripping the edge of the desk in his effort to stay in control, mind too keyed up to manage on its own.    
“ _ Sorry _ won’t bring Jesse’s arm back, won’t undo all of the things I’ve been made to do, to lie awake at night and think about while  _ you  _ sit on your ass and answer  _ emails _ !” 

 

His chest heaved, blood fiery-hot in his veins as he felt the first prickle of enraged tears form at the corners of his eyes. “I failed him, nothing will ever make that right. He didn’t deserve what happened to him, he’s been through enough!” Gabriel howled, the whine of the wood beneath his grip the only thing keeping him from reaching out and grabbing Jack by the throat, anything to make him feel even a  _ fraction  _ of what Gabe felt, what Jesse felt. The first tears fell after a long shuddering sigh, attention snapping back to Jack’s face when he heard the click of his throat as he finally moved to speak.    
  
“How did we become this…?” was all Jack said, his face impassive but his voice was strained, thick under the weight of his own words. How  _ did  _ they become this? If Jack had asked his younger self this question, he wouldn’t have been able to answer, caught up in the grand naivety of youth and his dream to save the world.

 

Gabriel paused, hands sliding away to fall at his sides, exhaustion hitting him finally as he came down from the adrenaline. “War.” He said, words coming on the tail end of a sigh. 

Standing slowly, he made his way to the door before turning his head to glance in Jack’s direction, hand resting firmly on the doorframe to keep him upright through the fatigue. 

 

Jack stared down at the dossier, hands slowly moving to gather the documents and photographs together, tucking them back into the packet and staring down at it in his hands.  _ ‘This was war…’  _ he thought, reaching over and dropping the file in the wastebasket, scrubbing his stubbled face with his hands. “You’re dismissed, Reyes.” 

 

“Yes Sir.” Gabriel murmured, mustering up just enough energy to slip out the door, making his way to the infirmary to sleep away the hell of the day with someone who deserved the company.


End file.
